Air Nomads
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Air Nomads is a collective term for a nation of people in the fictional universe of the Nickelodeon animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. One of the series' "Four Nations," the Air Nomads were wanderers by definition, but had four Air Temples, one at each corner of the globe, hidden away atop mountain ranges in the northern Earth Kingdom and on three remote islands. The Air Nomads were home to a monastic order of men and women who practiced Airbending, the mystical art of aerokinesis.
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[edit] Appearance
The Air Nomads wear yellow, orange, and brown clothing. Aang and other young Airbenders wear orange shawls over long-sleeved yellow shirts, a brown belt, yellow pants with brown on the back, and brown boots that reach the knees. Older monks wear longer robes in shades of yellow, orange, and brown. Most Air Nomads have grey or brown eyes and a light complexion.
Young boys to be trained as monks have shaven heads while monk elders grow beards and mustaches. Airbenders who have attained some level of mastery in the art will be marked with arrow tattoos on their bodies; for male Airbenders, a primary arrow tattoo is placed on their shaven head that extends down their back, along with four others, one on each limb that terminates in an arrowhead at the hands or feet. When an Avatar tattooed in this fashion enters the Avatar State, these tattoos are known to glow along with the Avatar's eyes and mouth.
The Airbending Avatar before Aang, Yangchen, was female and thus from either the Eastern or Western Air Temple. Female Airbenders do not fully shave their heads, though a nun with a partially shaven head was seen in "Appa's Lost Days". Based on the female Airbenders that have been shown, it seems Air Nomads have naturally dark brown hair.
[edit] National Emblem
The Air Nomad insignia is depicted as a styalized swirling orb. Within the circle, coiling lines illustrate the wind. The symbol can be seen on the design of doors and surfaces in the Air Temples, as well as on pendants of monks' prayer beads.
[edit] Culture
While other nations possess royalty and are run by monarchies, the Air Nomads are led by the monks of the Air Temples, i.e. by a theocracy.
A century before the time of the series, the Air Nomads were the victims of genocide at the hands of the Fire Nation. The sole known survivor of the massacre was the very person the Fire Nation sought to kill in its quest for supremacy: the twelve-year-old Airbender and Avatar, Aang, who had run away from the Southern Air Temple shortly before the war began and became trapped in suspended animation. He has since revived and begun a quest to restore balance and peace to the warring nations.
The Air Nomads are the only nation comprised entirely of benders, due to the highly spiritual nature of their lives.[1] It is said that meditation was an important part of the Airbenders' daily rountines, as it helped them to focus their energies and understand the potentcy of their element.
It has been mentioned that they have a good sense of humor, a fact shown when Monk Gyatso employed a unique teaching method when tutoring Aang with his Airbending skills — accurately blowing fruit cakes onto other monks' heads.
The arrow on an Airbender's head signifies that he or she has mastered Airbending. This is an emulation of the natural arrows on the heads of Flying Bison, animals revered by the Air Nomads who can naturally Airbend and are believed to be the inspiration for the first Airbenders. As seen in the episode "The Storm," apprentice Airbenders have no tattoos. In order to receive the tattoos as well as the title of a master, an Airbender must pass the thirty-six levels of airbending along with engendering a new technique. In actuality, Aang had only reached the thirty-fifth level before he left the Jongmu Temple, his invention of the Air Scooter earned him the tattoos prematurely, making him the youngest airbending master in history.
Air Nomads are also vegetarians, as are the modern monks of Tibet. This is suggested by Aang's words when he said he didn't eat meat in "The King of Omashu," as well as other various episodes.
[edit] Season
Each nation of the Four Nations is influenced by their own distinct, dominant season. Autumn is the dominant season of the Air Nomad race. More Air Nomad children were born during autumn than any other season, all retaining bending abilities.
[edit] Natural resources and foods
As could be determined, air is the main and most significant power source and natural resource of the Nomads, as without it they would be rendered powerless. With the power of air channeled under their control, the Airbenders were enabled to defend and protect their homes and way of life and travel across the globe.
The Air Nomads were a tranquil and environmentally friendly race of people and did their best not to leave a mark on the land. Any industry that they engendered, such as farming and gardening, were powered naturally. They also produced their own food.
[edit] Air Temples
Though the Air Nomads as a race would seem to be almost totally erased from the world, remnants of their legacy still hold a place within it. The largest, most predominant, permanent features of their past are the four Air Temples. Although Airbenders are primarily a nomadic culture, there are four Air Temples in various remote locations where councils were held and novices were raised. The temples were divided by gender, with the Southern and Northern temples reserved for male monks and the Eastern and Western for female nuns. Air Nomads not situated to a temple had no permanent home and tranversed across the world individually or in small groups.
Sections reserved for learning, quiet meditation, and the study and practice of their element were common features of the temples. Their outer grounds also featured grassy knolls for outdoor play, reflecting pools, historical murals and monuments. In each temple there is a large cylindrical room known as an Air Sanctuary locked behind a door which can only be opened via Airbending. At least one of these rooms has been shown to contain thousands of statues iterating in a spiral formation the previous incarnations of the Avatar. It is unknown if there is an Air Avatar temple or where it might be found.
[edit] Southern Air Temple
Located in the remote Patola mountain range (Air Nomad Territory), the Southern, Jongmu Air Temple, supposedly only accessible via flying bison, was the boyhood home of the current Avatar, Aang, and his father-like mentor, Monk Gyatso. It was raided early in the war during Fire Lord Sozin's genocide on the Air Nomads.
The temple is large and peaceful, has an Air Ball arena, and is also where the "Air Scooter" was first invented by Aang. The temple itself primarily served as a training ground for Airbender students. Once inhabited by Flying Bison and Winged Lemurs in the days of the monks, it is now barren and abandoned by humans and animals alike. As a result of being built for and by the monks, several of the temples' doors and mechanisms are operable only through means of airbending. A statue of Monk Gyatso stands at the entrance to the temple. Unlike the other two temples shown, the Southern Temple's spires are blue, instead of green.
[edit] Northern Air Temple
High in the upper reaches of the Earth Kingdom resides the Northern Air Temple. It was home to the Flying Bison polo championships in the days when the monks lived in it. After the extermination of the monks, the temple was rediscovered by the Mechanist and his group of refugees. The Mechanist used the gliders within to give his paraplegic son Teo a new life in the air. However, he was extorted for weapons manufacture by the Fire Nation, who threatened to attack if he did not comply. He hid the machines in what was formerly the Sanctuary of the temple, unknown to the temple's other residents. Aang and the others discover the weapons cache, and convince him to revolt against the Fire nation, with the promise of protecting the temple from attack.
The Northern Temple was modified by the Mechanist to house more people than before, and many of the original structures were destroyed or expanded to help accommodate the new residents. The temple also underwent many technological "upgrades", as the Mechanist added new inventions to help make the lives of the residents easier. The new changes anger Aang at first, who sees it as a violation of the temple's original sanctity, but in the end he decides that the refugees are like the hermit crabs that inhabit the temple's corridors, and is happy that they have found this empty shell and made it their home, and helps to defend them against the Fire Nation.
[edit] Eastern Air Temple
Along with the Western Air Temple, it exclusively housed female Airbenders and was home to Sister Iio. This temple was destroyed by the Fire Nation. When Aang, the current Avatar, was to be separated from his mentor, Monk Gyatso, the elders of the Southern Air Temple had decided to send Aang to the Eastern Air Temple to complete his training without Gyatso's fatherly influence. However, before they could do this, Aang overheard their plans and ran away.
As seen in the episode "Appa's Lost Days", the Eastern Air Temple was where Aang chose Appa as a Sky Bison partner and is probably where Appa was born. In the present day, Guru Pathik has waited there for a few years awaiting the Avatar's advent, because he saw a vision of himself helping the Avatar in his future. Interestingly, the Guru wore clothes of the same color as those of the Airbenders, and identifies himself to Aang as a spiritual peer of Gyatso. In the episode The Guru, Pathik led Aang through the opening of six of his seven chakras in order to help Aang master the Avatar state. The opening of these chakras was performed at various sites in and around the Eastern Air Temple.
Unlike the Northern and Southern Air temples, the Eastern Air temple is housed on three mountains.
[edit] Western Air Temple
The Western Air Temple is situated nearest to Fire Nation territory. It exclusively housed female Airbenders, and is the only temple not yet seen in the series.
[edit] Air Temple Fauna
[edit] Flying Bison
Air Temples are inhabited by exotic fauna, one species of which is the six-legged, three-toed, five-stomached, beaver-tailed, Flying Bison, giant domesticated flying beasts ridden by Airbenders. According to a behind-the-scenes interview with the show's creators, they are a hybrid between a bison and a manatee. These creatures have brown eyes, shaggy, light grey fur and a brown stripe that runs along their back, from tail-tip to forehead, where it terminates in an arrowhead. In "The Great Divide", Aang reveals that Appa has five stomachs. These creatures are the main source of transportation for Air Nomads.
All Flying Bison can use airbending to fly, utilizing their broad tails to steer through air currents and also to defend themselves. As shown in "Appa's Lost Days", they are also able to use their mouths and possibly their noses to Airbend. A fully-grown Flying Bison can easily weigh ten tons. They are revered by the Air Nomads, whose tattoos deliberately emulate their arrow-shaped markings, for inspiring the Airbending art, similarly to how Badgermoles inspired Earthbending. It was customary for young air nomads to choose an air bison to be their lifelong companion. Aang chose Appa at the Eastern Air Temple, when he was a baby calf, by giving him an apple.
To direct a Flying Bison to take flight, Aang uses the command "Yip-yip." To summon one from a far location, one may use a Flying Bison whistle. Though fairly docile, these creatures can be fearsome when aroused to fight. The most notable and possibly last surviving Flying Bison is Appa, Aang's pet and major means of long-distance transportation.
[edit] Winged Lemurs
The Winged Lemur species is also native to the Air Temple mountain ranges. Like the Flying Bison, Winged Lemurs are a hybrid species, being a cross between a lemur and a spotted bat. Sporting giant, bat-like ears and wing-like patagia on their arms, Winged Lemurs can glide and flap their winged arms to fly. It is unknown, however, whether they can actually Airbend in the traditional sense. Momo is the most notable (and possibly last) of this species in the series.
[edit] Other animals
A less-known animal species that inhabits the Air Temples is small, land-dwelling hermit crab. They look quite similar to their aquatic cousins, with a similar shell-switching lifestyle, but are covered in a thick coat of black and white hair. They seem to prefer damp, dark places and are apparently very adaptable, as specimens in the Northern Air Temple survived a complete refurbishment of the entire complex, spearheaded by the The Mechanist. It seems fitting and is perhaps not coincidental that a nomadic animal by nature would live among the Air Nomads.
[edit] Influences
In many aspects, the culture of the Air Nomads seems to be a mix of the Monks of Tibet and the nomadic Mongols of Mongolia, as well as the warrior monks of the Shaolin Temple.[citation needed] The slaughter of the Air Nomads is a likely allusion to the alleged brutal suppression of the Tibetans by the People's Republic of China, as well as to the several attacks the Shaolin Temple has endured in its long history. The use by Airbenders of a staff is also evidence of a Shaolin connection, as the oldest fighting form associated with the temple was a staff form.[citation needed]
[edit] Notable figures
[edit] References
| Franchise |
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| Episodes · Media information · Trading cards · Video game |
| Universe |
| Water Tribe · Earth Kingdom · Fire Nation · Air Nomads · Spirit World Waterbender · Earthbender · Firebender · Airbender · Chakra |
| Characters |
| Aang · Katara · Sokka · Appa · Toph · Zuko · Iroh · Azula Major secondary characters · Minor secondary characters · Creatures |
